Wednesday, July 4, 2012

Going After Birth Control Means Certain Defeat For Personhood

The Raw Story has an article on the ill-fated Ohio Personhood Amendment.  Personhood Ohio failed to gain enough signatures to get the initiative placed on the November ballot.
This initiative was destined for failure.  Here’s why.  As written on their website:
The Ohio Personhood Amendment will insert Section 16(b):
"Person" and "men" defined:
(A) The words "person" in Article 1, Section 16, and "men" in Article 1, Section 1, apply to every human being at every stage of the biological development of that human being or human organism, including fertilization.
(B) Nothing in this Section shall affect genuine contraception that acts solely by preventing the creation of a new human being; or human "eggs" or oocytes prior to the beginning of the life of a new human being; or reproductive technology or In Vitro Fertilization (IVF) procedures that respect the right to life of newly created human beings.
Part B of the initiative clearly states that hormonal birth control pills (BCP’s) would be banned.  Ok, maybe it’s not clear to some people, but it’s clear to me.  It’s a well known fact that BCP’s can allow conception to take place, albeit rarely.  That being said, anything that can allow conception, would be banned.  Most women won’t sign up for something that would put them in a position to not be able to prevent pregnancy.
Does my opinion mean I’m not pro-life?  No.  It means I’m a realist.  When pro-life organizations start focusing attention on the fetuses killed by abortion, and stop focusing on what creates the illusion of ‘controlling women’, then these initiatives might have a chance. 
Until a better alternative for reversible birth control is invented, we must not try to ban women from preventing pregnancy with the only tools they have.

1 comment:

  1. The comment below is from an anonymous user who reached out to me by email.

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    You wrote, "It’s a well known fact that BCP’s can allow conception to take place, albeit rarely."

    What *isn't* well known, despite the thousands of people who will claim that it is, is whether BCPs actually prevent implantation. I don't have time to get into the whole explanation right now, so I'll link to this, which covers the basics:

    http://lti-blog.blogspot.com/2008/06/does-thin-uterine-lining-support-pill.html

    ReplyDelete